Sunday, 18 August 2013

ISSUES & CASE RESOLUTION

THE MOSQUITO REPELLENT
INDUSTRY

Due to a relatively large market size, attractive margins and
expected growth rates, marketing of repellents in India is relatively well
organized, with a number of national brands. Some of the main players are as
follows:

KAPL, with its vaporizer-based All
Out

Godrej Sara Lee, with its products
such as Good Night (for mosquitoes in particular) and Hit
(targeted mainly at cockroaches)

Reckitt Benckiser, with its brand
Mortein

Bombay Chemicals, with its anti-mosquito coil
called 'Tortoise'

Dabur-Balsara, with its
cream-based product called 'Odomos'

Bayer, with its 'Baygon' spray,
'Baygon' power mats etc.

Jyothi Laboratories, with its Maxo

THE ISSUES

The Indian
market is, thus, clearly quite competitive with a range of players and
products. In addition to the players aforementioned, it is also necessary to
keep in mind that a number of local brands were also available, with their
offerings priced lower than that of the larger players. In fact, some estimates
put the number of brands in the market at as much as 72, being produced by as
many as 54 manufacturers.

It is in
this scenario that Karamchand Appliances' All Out vaporizer operates.

CASE RESOLUTION

All Out did succeed in stemming the previously-rapid growth of
Good Knight and stave off other challenges. This is best exemplified that from
about 40 per cent of the vaporizer market, Good Knight's market share decreased
to just more than 20 per cent after a few years.

How was this done? Many believe that All Out's success was based
primarily on good marketing and, in particular, good advertising. This
perception was strengthened when three promoters of Karamchand Appliances were
awarded the 'Marketing Persons of the Year' award at the Advertising and
Marketing awards. In their citation, A&M stated that the All Out case
provided a fine 'tale for budding entrepreneurs and marketers of the new
millennium'.